Vanadzor is the third largest city in Armenia. It is located in the north of the country and was industrialized in the Soviet era. However, outside the city gates is a world of fairy tales, fables and heroes, all set within a breath-taking landscape. Several monasteries were built along a narrow gorge to the north, which is why this route is known as Monastery Road.

The wild Phambak River accompanies the road up to the Georgian border and monasteries, such as that of the Khobajr Monastery, are located on the cliffs above the valley where well-maintained stone buildings are difficult to spot.

We arrive on a plateau which provides an impressive insight of the elemental forces of this environment. Odzun, in common with numerous monasteries and churches, was not only a centre of spiritual life and education, but also one of science. In around 717 A.D., Hovhannes resided there as head of the Armenian church. He improved and consolidated the liturgy. On the walls, fragments of stone reliefs are considered to be masterpieces.

Built in the tenth century A.D. on the site of earlier buildings that date back to both the Bronze and Iron Ages, the well-preserved Akhtala Monastery was for some time a church of the Armenian-Georgian population, and derived its present-day appearance from that time. The monastery fortress was important for the defence of northeastern Armenia.

The Mother Of God Church continues to be the centre of the church fortress, a massive stone construction with many stone reliefs on its external walls. The interior architecture is Armenian, a typical cross-domed church with two free-standing pillars. The luminosity of the colours is impressive with deepest blue, shimmering gold and warm shades of brown.

Armenia’s Apostolic Church is the world’s oldest-established Church and marks the end of the Monastery Road.